“From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?” (Job 38:29-30)
A frozen lake is a bit mysterious to me. It’s fascinating how God makes it possible to walk on water in the winter, sliding across a solid lake when the surface of the deep is frozen. By chapter 38, Job has experienced more winter than most of us ever will. The point God makes at the end of the book is that He alone is God, He alone is above all, and He is still on the Throne. He will enable us to walk through the cold, through a frozen world, thick or thin, He is able. In Job 12:12 it says that the Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. After what Job had been through, that must have felt like walking on water. Not good.
Kristi and I went Ice Fishing one afternoon recently. There were lots of cracks running everywhere in the ice, and I’ll admit to some uncertainty in terms of safety. There were no other fishermen on the ice that day, which always makes me a bit nervous. As we started out onto the slippery surface, I jumped up and down for just a quick security test and then thought better of it. Finding a spot where it looked like some others had fished, I augured through the ice. After less than an inch, I hit water. Kristi was standing next to me, and I’m certain she saw that look of panic on my face, fearing that we were standing together on very thin ice.
After a careful look, however, I discovered that I had punched through a previous hole which had yet to freeze over. Digging a fresh hole in a different spot revealed plenty of ice to be safe on. Yet, I’ll never forget that feeling of thinking we could at any moment be fighting for survival in very cold water.
How have you used the phrase lately-----“Walking on thin ice?” Have you ever gone forward on a decision without much support, without solid ground, lacking in the confidence that comes with being in the center of God’s will? Have you headed down the track of a discussion about which you knew just enough to be dangerous? Have you been in the middle of a bad day or had trials and tribulations where you thought the world was going to fall away beneath you? Perhaps you’ve even felt like you’ve already fallen through to the depths of bitter seas and the world above you is freezing over. Maybe you’ve felt like you just can’t find the place of escape from the cold water of life’s circumstances. Our God who rolled the stone away can always make a way.
I’m encouraged by the message of Job today……God is still God and I can trust Him through anything. I’m also encouraged by the truth of Psalm 138:7. Whether I have that feeling of walking on water or the anxiety of thin ice, or the scary nightmare of cold enemies throwing blankets of ice on my dreams----God is always close as I reach out to Him.
“Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
You preserve my life;
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes,
With your right hand you save me.”
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